The Truth About The City Couple
Episode 11 of Racket Boys begins with the kids confronting Hyeon-Jong about the White Wolf. They’re concerned about the beatings but he brushes it aside and claims it’s hearsay and not true. Meanwhile, we see more about the city couple and what brought them to the countryside. During the past, Mr Kim won a competition, developing a new drug. However, he’s quick to remind all in attendance that one of the students, Gi-Hyeon, did half the work. Mr Kim catches up with the troubled student late on and learns his Mother has had to have another operation. Unfortunately this also means his medical bills are piling up. This culminates in the kid committing suicide, which we learn about later in the episode. This absolutely crushes Kim as he finds himself reeling and even more so when he finds a note from the kid claiming he’s going to a place where he doesn’t have to receive or give help. Snapping back to the present he decides to help Grandma Ome. After dropping her off, Mr Hong rings asking for help moving fertilizer. Heading back to town again, they find themselves helping all the different villagers including Big Gran and Grandma Ome. The former even writes “thank you” on a piece of paper which is a really touching moment. In fact, it leaves them with a warm, fuzzy feeling after a hard day’s work. This eventually culminates in the pair discussing what happened and even writing a similar note to the one Gi-Hyeon wrote all those years back. Now it’s clear that the couple have found their purpose in this village and don’t really want to leave. Together, they decide they’re going to live their best lives now. Meanwhile, Dong-Yeong and the rest of the competitors train harder than before to try and beat our Korean racket boys at the next upcoming competition. They train hard too, determined to win. Meanwhile, friendships and romance continues to simmer. Han Sol and Yoon-Dam have of course been getting closer but Yong-Tae believes this is just a front for his friend dating Se-Yoon. Oh Yong-Tae, you couldn’t be further from the truth! Anyway, a spanner is throw in the works when Park Chan shows up to see her. Predictably, Hae-Kang is not best pleased. Throughout the episode is a particularly hilarious homework task for Hae-In where she needs to try and express what love is. Whether it be the kids or the adults, the elaborate hand signals just aren’t doing the trick. Still reeling over what the kids told him, Hyeon-Jong heads off to investigate more about the White Wolf. Only, the kids from the school in question are not in the talkative mood and refuse to disclose what really happened. At least to begin with. Eventually he receives a call telling him to speak to Coach Noh. He’s the one who was there back then. However, Noh also refuses to open up and talk, unwilling to reopen old wounds. Back at the gym, Hyeon-Jong preps the kids ready for their draft match the following day. After their training, the kids drop off some curry for the city couple, who break down in tears when they receive a heartfelt thanks for being in town. It’s a really touching and beautiful segment, and one that sees Hae-In use as inspiration toward her homework assignment on love. The draft matches take place and everything goes down to the wire. The Hwasung kids are grilled pretty hard by their coach, and they definitely don’t look happy. Outside, Yong-Tae sits with Eun-Ho and offers some encouraging words for him. Unfortunately those words also include telling him about Hae-Kang’s eye. Eun-Ho immediately feeds this back to his coach, who uses this against him. Yong-Tae is obviously upset by this betrayal, struggling to hold back tears as the game continues.
The Episode Review
Racket Boys returns with a solid episode, one that sees Yong-Tae face the bitter taste of betrayal at the end. It’s a real hammer blow for him but also a reminder that these Hwasung Boys are equally desperate to make it to the Nationals and will do anything to get there. Meanwhile thee city couple get the lion’s share of the screen-time this week with a beautifully written backstory that shows them finally find their place and peace through helping everyone else. The pair have always been hardworking but met adversity from the city-going authorities. Now that they’re out in the countryside, the pair seem to have found their true home. It’s a beautifully written arc for the pair and one that helps elevate this part of the story, which has been shrouded in mystery for large swathes of the run-time so far. Elsewhere, Hyeon-Jong continues to look into the White Wolf stories but honestly this just feels like busywork. There’s not a lot to this plot as we already know who the White Wolf is and this busywork is basically used to catch him up with where we, as the audience, already are. Still, Racket Boys has been an enjoyable slice of life drama and the ending leaves things poised on a knife-edge ready for tomorrow’s follow-up.
